Boxall, Revelation

Boxall, Ian. The Revelation of Saint John. Black’s New Testament commentaries, 18. Peabody, Maryland; London; New York: Hendrickson Publishers; Continuum, 2006. xvi + 347 pp.

Boxall’s commentary is the replacement for Caird’s. The introduction is short, but Boxall has published a separate volume covering the introductory issues: Boxall, Revelation: Vision and Insight.

The publisher’s description states that “fellow Oxford scholar Ian Boxall’s new edition in this popular series offers a clear and lucid study of St. John’s apocalypse. Arising out of a critical awareness of the historical and theological issues surrounding the interpretation of Revelation, Boxall’s exposition opens with an enlightening introduction to the first-century context of this difficult book.”

Professor David Barr has published a lengthy presentation and assessment in Review of Biblical Literature (here). According to Barr, Boxall argues that Rev 19:11ff is “probably not a parousia scene but a description of what already exists in heaven, because the battle pictured here was ‘fought and won on the cross’ (272–76).” In my thesis (see here for the abstract), I have argued at length that it is a parousia scene. Boxall (and Barr) thinks that the scroll in Rev 5 and Rev 10 is the same scroll. I have argued that it is not.

Barr recommends Boxall’s attention to reception history: “from Victorinus to Aune.” Readers who agree will probably like the volume by Weinrich.

Barr concludes: “This is a very useful short commentary. It is more cautious than Caird in considering the history of reception but also more limited than Caird in working out a distinct interpretation of John’s Apocalypse. It has a good, up-to-date bibliography, engages a range of interpretations, and guides the reader through the maze of alternative views with caution and common sense. It is a worthy successor.” Read it all.

More information is available at the publisher’s website here, including the Table of Contents, the Introduction, and a sample chapter: (currently) the exegesis of Rev 1:1-3.